Jackson feels he'll play larger role in Eagles' offense this year

Eagles wide receiver hopes to get more involved.

PHILADELPHIA — — DeSean Jackson had the football in his hands 49 times in 11 games last season. That's an average of just 4.5 touches per game for one of the few NFL players with a legitimate threat to score any time he has the ball.

It also is the lowest average, by far, of the dynamic wide receiver's career, which moves into its sixth season with the Philadelphia Eagles under new coach Chip Kelly, who wants to raise that number at least back to where it was when Jackson flourished in his second and third seasons.

When Jackson made the Pro Bowl in 2009 and 2010, he averaged 6.4 touches per game, scored 20 touchdowns in that span and had 49 punt returns (with 23 fair catches). In the two years since, he's reached the end zone just six times.

At age 26, Jackson doesn't have too many more years left in which he will be able to match his pure instinct with the same kind of speed. Neither of those can be coached but both sure can be exploited to the Eagles' advantage.

This is why Jackson seemed so excited on Wednesday, when addressing questions about how he'll fit into the new plan and where his career is going.

Although Jackson is not sure about the specifics of his role, probably because Kelly himself is still trying to figure that out, he anticipates playing much more of a key role than he had in the previous two seasons.

"We really don't know all the details and everything yet," Jackson said. "But I'm very excited about the opportunities ... being able to play multiple positions. Being moved around is something I'm looking forward to as well, so I have a lot on my shoulders.

"I've got to get that playbook down, learn it, and I'm looking forward to it."

Jackson also welcomes being brought back into the punt return picture, after the Eagles failed miserably there while trying to phase him out.

"Hopefully it will be a little more than last year, being able to get back there and make some big-time punt returns," he said. "It's still early, so we're still trying to figure out everything.

"The one thing I can say, as far as the training room and the equipment room, everything is really top-notch level, they're really getting us in shape, running us hard. Because, once again, that uptempo offense is really going to be kind of new to us, so we really have to get ourselves in shape and get ourselves ready to be out there firing on every play."

Part of the reason Kelly is seeking larger receivers to complement Jackson is to get larger defenders away from him and leave him isolated more with guys his own size, allowing him to break free quicker and possibly keeping him from taking the kinds of devastating hits that have forced him to miss eight games due to injuries over the last four seasons.

"I feel the sky's the limit for myself," Jackson said. "I think this year, with Chip coming in with the style of play of his offense, it's really going to help me out a lot more as well. I'm going to be able to get certain looks, get the ball in my hand, do things I wasn't doing the past five years. So that's going to be an exciting time for myself. I'm going to have to be fully prepared, fully in shape, fully healthy.

"... That offensive style [the Kelly ran at the University of Oregon] was almost cheating. He's cheating, getting all these touchdowns, scoring all these points, doing all these crazy stuff, so I'm just excited to hopefully fit into that role."

Bottom line: Jackson is buying in, which could be the most encouraging sign that the offense will function effectively in 2013, no matter who winds up at quarterback.

Nick Foles is a candidate there, and said on Wednesday that he had no doubt he can be a starter for Kelly, despite a boatload of public opinions to the contrary.

"Whoever's the quarterback of your team, you build your offense around them,'' Foles said. "I feel like I can go in and run anything. I'm here to compete. Everybody's here to achieve the same goal, and that's to win."

The starting quarterback could very well be the man who can get Jackson the ball the most.